A Valentine for the World!
Pope Francis bases his message for the upcoming 29th World Youth Day on The Beatitudes. He states:
"Jesus challenges us, young friends, to take seriously his approach to life and to decide which path is right for us and leads to true joy. This is the great challenge of faith. Jesus was not afraid to ask his disciples if they truly wanted to follow him or if they preferred to take another path (cf. Jn 6:67). Simon Peter had the courage to reply: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68). If you too are able to say "yes" to Jesus, your lives will become both meaningful and fruitful."
We can choose the path we take in life. We can choose to say "Yes!" to Jesus.
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Fr. Carl Chudy sx Fr. John Convery sx
Xaverian Missionaries USA Xaverian Missionaries UK
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Communication at the Service of an Authentic Culture of Encounter.
 | | Dark Room |
Today we are living in a world which is growing ever "smaller" and where, as a result, it would seem to be easier for all of us to be neighbours. Discover more.
MESSAGE FROM HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE 29th WORLD YOUTH DAY (2014)
Pope Francis has issued his message for the upcoming World Youth Day to be celebrated next April 13 in each diocese around the world. Read the Holy Father's message here.
"On the Cover of the Rolling Stone"
Sarah Palin has described Pope Francis as "kind of liberal." Rush Limbaugh has used the phrase "pure Marxism" to describe the pope's idea that a modern "culture of prosperity" has deadened people to the miseries of the poor. And many more conservatives have questioned his comment on homosexual priests - "Who am I to judge?" So just who is Pope Francis? Discover more.
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World Interfaith Harmony Week
 For billions of people around the world, faith is an essential foundation of life.
It provides strength in times of difficulty and an important sense of community. The vast majority of people of faith live in harmony with their neighbours, whatever their creed, but each religion also harbours a strident minority prepared to assert fundamentalist doctrines through bigotry and extreme violence. Read more. World Day of Social Justice: February 20th
 Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability. Learn more. |
News from theGYM
A Wall That Unites: Youth share concerns at NCYC
 "Is this OK?" the teenager asked, pensively. Dangling from her fingers was a sticker, on which she'd written "overpopulation" in orange. "I mean, some people here might not want to see this up there."
Up there was "The Big Wall of World Worries," a focal point of the Center of Concern's exhibit
at the 2013 National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis. The young woman was among371 participants who took time to share their greatest concern for the world. She was not alone. Discover more.
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Missionaries Through Prayer
Each year, on February 11, the Church celebrates the "World Day of the Sick." On this day in particular, we focus on the redemptive value of human suffering and on the important role of those who are sick in the work of spreading the Gospel. Learn more.
Xaverian Missionaries are involved in many types of healing ministries from hospitals and medical doctors overseas, to hospice and nursing, to pastoral work in this country. Fr. Aniello Salicone SX conducts such a ministry from our Xavier Knoll Mission Center in Franklin WI. List of Masses followed by healing prayers for February 2014:
February 7, Friday, Saint Jude's chapel, Women's Center, 5116 N. Cicero Ave. Chicago, IL 60630, at 6:00 p.m. (Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, before and after the Mass for the whole night. In this chapel the Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament is every day for 24 hours).
February 12, Wednesday, Xaverian Missionary chapel, 4500 Xavier Drive, Franklin, WI 53132, at 7:00 P.M.
February 13, Thursday, St. Francis Borgia's chapel, 8033 W. Addison Street, Chicago, IL 60634, at 7:15 P.M.
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Robert Burns @ Conforti
From our UK editor Fr. "Paddy" Duffy SX
 | | Fr. Willie Hattie SX playing the bag pipes at the Burns Supper |
The Burns Supper on January 25th was an occasion of song, poetry and friendship.
We held our first Catholic Social Teaching weekend, which was a most excellent weekend (no editorial bias here). For more information.
We finished our Commonwealth Days Inputs for Cardinal Winning and St Oswald's secondary's and other activities are warming up after the Christmas and New Year breaks! We are looking forward to a busy February and leaving the cold, dark months behind!
As Burns himself would say:
Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west,
The drift is driving sairly;
Sae loud and shill's I hear the blast-
I'm sure it's winter fairly.
Chorus.-Up in the morning's no for me,
Up in the morning early;
When a' the hills are covered wi' snaw,
I'm sure it's winter fairly.
The birds sit chittering in the thorn,
A' day they fare but sparely;
And lang's the night frae e'en to morn-
I'm sure it's winter fairly.
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 | | Protest to Free Margaretta D'Arcy jailed for Peace Activism |
Margaretta D'Arcy, the acclaimed Irish writer and peace activist, is serving a three-month prison sentence in Ireland for her protests at the US military use of Shannon airport. Learn more.
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Ten Great Things About Being Catholic
Church is also something we do and not just who we are. Our vocation to "be" church engages us with a world in crying need of the presence of Christ. And Jesus wasn't just present to people; he came to town and got to work teaching, healing, blessing, and giving hope to the hopeless. He spoke out in defense of the poor, the suffering, and the excluded. When we involve ourselves in works of justice, working to right the imbalance of power in the world, we are "being church" most profoundly. Discover more.
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Strasbourg: More than 32,000 in Taiz� youth gathering
The 36th European youth meeting organised by the Taiz� Community in Strasbourg, Alsace, France and the neighbouring region in Germany, ended with prayer and festivities to celebrate New Year's Eve, and lunch on 1 January shared by the young participants and their hosts. Discover more.
Taiz� is coming to Scotland in March. Learn more. And has regular prayer services in Scotland and the UK and the USA.
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"Shining the Light of Faith"
 | | National Catholic Schools Week 2014 |
US Catholic Schools week may be over but UK Catholic Education Week will run from February 23rd till March 1st. This year's theme is "Shining the Light of Faith." Resources can be found here.
Caritas Award
 A group of senior pupils from St Oswald's Secondary School in Glasgow are working hard towards their goal of achieving the 2014 Caritas Award. The pupils arranged for representatives of many religious communities to visit St Oswald's and speak about their faith and practices. Jean Carroll, St Oswald's religious education teacher, stated: "The students have taken on board the meaning of caritas, 'love,' and they understand that in order to love the way Jesus intends us to, then we need to get to know our neighbours..." Read more.
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Archbishop Nichols is named a cardinal by Pope Francis
 "Personally, this is a humbling moment when I am asked to take a place in this service of the Holy See and in the line of much loved Cardinal Archbishops of Westminster. I seek the blessing of Almighty God for these new responsibilities and I ask for the prayers of all people of faith that I may fulfill them with energy and devotion." Read more.
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Man's Law gets in the way of eternal realities!
A snapshot of the quandaries of today's society. But this website has so much more!
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Religion shouldn't make people miserable
Reflection for the month: Why can't we get it? Religious people often give the impression of over-seriousness. Discover more.
On that note: Here's some fun.
And check out the Association of Catholic Priests' pastoral plan for the year.
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New MOBILE APP
The Xaverian Missionaries have a new Mobile App. Now you can take us with you wherever you go. Remember: We are ALWAYS here for you!
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Church Teaching on World Mission
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Mission Links
Check out our new Website!
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ACrossBorders
Passion for Christ
Passion for Humanity
is a collaborative media project of the Xaverian Missionaries of the USA and the United Kingdom.
XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES 12 Helene Court Wayne, New Jersey 07470 |
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XMN
The February 2014 edition of the Xaverian Mission Newsletter is available online. Learn about the Common Ground Conference in Scotland; Hope in Bangladesh; our mission in Thailand; the Dream of St, Guido; the path to sainthood for Mother Celestina Bottego and discover lots more.
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Founder of the
Xaverian Missionaries
Saint Guido Maria Conforti
Our "missionary to the world" became a saint on World Mission Sunday, October 23, 2011.
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Join us In the Global Mission of the Church!
Thank you for sharing in our mission.
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